I have a 2004 Quadrafire Castile that's been acting up lately. It's been squealing and when the unit shuts down, it doesn't restart automatically. It whirs and clicks but nothing happens unless I throw a hand full of pellets in pot and then eventually it start up and runs. Pushing the reset button only clicks but nothing happens. I cleaned it out, took out and cleaned the vacuum hose, replaced the gasket etc. The stove shop said it needed a better cleaning and came out and did that. They heard the squealing and said the convection blower (think he called it the blower motor) needed replacement that it was the bearings and it could die anytime but they did not have one to replace it and they thought that was why I was having problems. They said it was really hard to replace. I guess my questions are, does it sound like the convection blower could be the problem? Are they hard to replace? How do I know it's not the exhaust blower, I believe I've seen a picture of the exhaust blower named as the convection blower and now I'm confused. The vacuum switch, igniter, thermocouple and cover are all fairly new. The control box was recently tested and was ok. Thank you...
Quadrafire Castile Convection Blower
- Thread starter theodddogout
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The need to put pellets in the burn pot is an interesting clue. What if the squeal is coming from the auger? Has this been checked? Have you tried cleaning it out and spraying some silicone on it?
It is interesting, I did take the auger out but I didn't silicone it, I thought maybe it had a jam but it didn't. It seems so many things have to happen to make it all run smoothly, I can't seem to figure out the sequence. The interesting part is the lack of sound, it clicks and the faintest noise like something wants to work but isn't and it stays like that until I put the pellets in, it still take a few minutes before it starts but it does. If it helps, it doesn't squeal each time the pellets drops and it quiets down after the fires been burning a while with an occasional few minutes of squealing for no rhyme or reason that I can tell. The weird thing is the pellets aren't seeming to burn into fly away ash like they used to, it stay's in the pot (until I empty it) But that only started after I changed the gasket. As it turned out I put it on the last time with the open end down instead of up and I don't know if doing that hurt the stove at all. This was probably too much information, but I thought just in case I'm missing something obvious I'd through it out there : )
Combustion blower is the exhaust blower. Convection blower is the blower that distributes the heat. Do you get the noise on start up? The first fan to come on is the Combustion blower. Is that when the noise starts? Not restarting automatically and having to throw pellets in to get it going means you have other issues besides the noise. Please clarify step by step what happens when you start your stove.
The ash issue not coming out of the pot is an air flow issue. Something needs to be cleaned or the gasket was not replaced correctly. Door gasket leak perhaps?
BradH70
Feeling the Heat
Having a bad convection blower would not cause startup probelms.
Here are a few theories that I have:
1. Your auger shoot is jammed with fines and not enough pellets are being fed to get the stove started or run continuously. My stove clicks every time the auger turns, I believe it is just the mechanical slack being absorbed by the auger motor turning. You need to take the all the pellets out of the hopper and remove the feed rate plate to really get to that area.
2. You have the reverse auger motor syndrome. Pellets would never get fed to the burn pot if this is the case. Do you have a capacitor in line on the positive terminal of the auger motor?
3. The combustion (exhaust) blower is going bad and the bearings are squealing. If this is the case, then the fan blades may not have enough RPM's to create enough air flow to ignite the pellets. I doubt this is the problem though, if it were, the vacuum switch would not open resulting in the auger motor never turning. Even a noisy bad combustion blower (mine for example) will create enough air flow for proper stove operation.
Here are a few theories that I have:
1. Your auger shoot is jammed with fines and not enough pellets are being fed to get the stove started or run continuously. My stove clicks every time the auger turns, I believe it is just the mechanical slack being absorbed by the auger motor turning. You need to take the all the pellets out of the hopper and remove the feed rate plate to really get to that area.
2. You have the reverse auger motor syndrome. Pellets would never get fed to the burn pot if this is the case. Do you have a capacitor in line on the positive terminal of the auger motor?
3. The combustion (exhaust) blower is going bad and the bearings are squealing. If this is the case, then the fan blades may not have enough RPM's to create enough air flow to ignite the pellets. I doubt this is the problem though, if it were, the vacuum switch would not open resulting in the auger motor never turning. Even a noisy bad combustion blower (mine for example) will create enough air flow for proper stove operation.
When I start the stove it just hums, and one click. Nothing starts, no blowers, no auger turning. The igniter does heat up. If I hit the reset button, nothing but a click. If I throw pellets into the pot, it hums a few minutes longer then blowers start. Something does squeal once it starts up and it starts up slowly. I cleaned the stove and then stove shop service guy came out a couple days ago to deep clean top to bottom thinking that was the problem. In addition to me cleaning the vacuum tube, I also cleaned the hole on the side of the feeder tube where it joins. I cleaned the vent pipe from inside to out, I removed the stove pulling it forward and used a vent cleaner brush pulling from inside towards outside the house. I told the stove guy about replacing the gasket, he looked at it but didn't say it was wrong. It seems snug. After he cleaned it, it started up ok for a couple days, slow but automatic, but last night it reverted back to not starting automatically. All he said was it seemed like the blower motor was going and if it went the house would get smoky and that he didn't have the part as they were on back order which means a wait and another service call.
I'm sorry, but I'm not sure what a capacitor in line is or what it looks like, there are two white wires, one black and one red going into the motor.. Once the stove gets going, the auger doesn't seem to have any trouble dropping pellets if that helps at all....
This is not the way it is suppose to work. You have a combustion blower issue. That needs to be fixed first before you try to use the stove. That blower should start as soon as the stove calls for heat. Can you spin it by hand? It could be clogged, snap disk tripped or just defective. I would remove blower and clean it and also direct connect to AC to see if fan is defective. (Only do this if you feel safe working with AC voltage) Reslove that issue first.
I can spin it by hand no problem but I will try and take it out to clean it and thanks for the suggestion... I'll have to skip the AC connect, I love mechanical but I'm wimpy on electrical.
If the stove starts, the "Hum" is likely the combustion blower, the squeal after the fire starts, is likely the convection blower (does air start coming from the stove when it squeals)?
As for no pellets at start up? The click, may be the "Call" for heat? My Stove "clicks" when the light comes on.
But, no pellets is confusing? When was the last time you vacuumed out the fines from the hopper? When was the last time the Flame Height was set (On High it should be 4"-6" above the pot).
Sounds like everything is working? If it was vacuum related, it wouldn't run at all, if the flame is burning, the combustion blower must be spinning, and the convection (room air) is what sounds like is squealing?
My 2 pennies
As for no pellets at start up? The click, may be the "Call" for heat? My Stove "clicks" when the light comes on.
But, no pellets is confusing? When was the last time you vacuumed out the fines from the hopper? When was the last time the Flame Height was set (On High it should be 4"-6" above the pot).
Sounds like everything is working? If it was vacuum related, it wouldn't run at all, if the flame is burning, the combustion blower must be spinning, and the convection (room air) is what sounds like is squealing?
My 2 pennies
I get a distinct click each time the auger fires ( a relay closing???). It's louder than the initial CALL click. I just now set the stove (and convection blower) to 'high' and I can still hear the clicks even in the next room.
You hear this click, but the auger does not turn?
You hear this click, but the auger does not turn?
I took out the combustion blower and cleaned it.... It was kind of messy and I vacuumed out the area it came from as well. It spun freely before and after I cleaned it. I also cleaned the convection blower while I was in the area, that also spun freely. I put it back together but it's still doing the same thing. But, I started it up with the right side panel off and my ear close by. The combustion blower isn't coming on when it first starts up, the squealing starts when it finally does start up after the hand tossed pellets ignite.
Jumping ahead if this is at all related, I was watching the pot and it seemed like the pellets are dropping faster than they are burning. The feed rate is on it's lowest setting, but it seemed like they were coming fast. But, it could also be that I never sat and watched the pot that close before. I didn't know if that had something to do with the extra ash in the pot. And thank you very much...
That's right, once the fire get's going, then the auger works fine, it's just at start up that it clicks and nothing.
Thanks for your 2 pennies! That is what the click is, after closer listening upon start up process it seems to squeal when the exhaust blower starts. Which is a couple minutes after the hand tossed pellets ignite. I honestly don't think I ever set the flame height, 4-6" sounds about where it it. I have the pellet feed on low but they seem to be coming out fast, but I never really watched it that close until last night. I vacuumed out the hopper about two weeks ago, but I didn't remove the feed rate slider. I did take out the auger to see if it was jammed but it came out nicely. For some dumb reason, I didn't think to try and clean the auger housing when I did that, do you think it would help at all?If the stove starts, the "Hum" is likely the combustion blower, the squeal after the fire starts, is likely the convection blower (does air start coming from the stove when it squeals)?
As for no pellets at start up? The click, may be the "Call" for heat? My Stove "clicks" when the light comes on.
But, no pellets is confusing? When was the last time you vacuumed out the fines from the hopper? When was the last time the Flame Height was set (On High it should be 4"-6" above the pot).
Sounds like everything is working? If it was vacuum related, it wouldn't run at all, if the flame is burning, the combustion blower must be spinning, and the convection (room air) is what sounds like is squealing?
My 2 pennies
BradH70
Feeling the Heat
By any chance does the auger start working at the same time the Convection blower turns on? I know it is probably a long shot but could your auger have been miss wired at some point?
I still think you should try to verify that the auger is turning the proper direction. You can do this by cleaning out the hopper to expose the auger and then starting up the stove. The auger will turn several time to try and feed pellets into the pot for the start up cycle. While it is doing this, you can watch the auger and see which direction it is turning.
There are 2 bearings on that motor (combustion/exhaust). Get some 3-n-1 oil (Blue Bottle) or SAE 20 oil and put a few drops on them (fore and aft of motor) they are sealed, so spin the motor when you apply it, then spin, apply a couple drops, spin.
(Stove unplugged of course)
This will possibly breathe some life into that tired blower. Until you get a new one
I add a couple drops every few months to all of mine (sealed or not)
The auger doesn't start the same time as the blower, it actually starts after I finally get the blower started. But, long story short I was able to see the auger turn and it was turning in the right direction (clockwise) luckily : )
Thank you for all your tips : )
I think I will get a new combustion blower and install it this weekend. I can't afford another service call and I didn't really have much trouble taking it out to clean and putting it back in and as far as I know the stoves no worse off! I think I learned enough from all the helpful suggestions and spending time with it to trust that it's the blower. Once that step works, I'll see if the rest of the steps run correctly, the diagram helped a lot so thanks very much....
Please make sure to replace the blower gasket at the same time. It should come with one depending on where you buy it. Let us know how you make out. Good luck!
BradH70
Feeling the Heat
Where do you plan on getting your new combustion blower? I may be on the hunt for a replacement for the noisy combustion blower in my Castile.
I did, but the 6 outer holes need to be reamed open another 1/32" to 1/16" of an inch.
Its not much at all, but it needs a slightly bigger hole to get all 6 to line up.
This is not the same type of motor (factory is sealed bearings) this is Brass Bushing (IIRC), and has an oil port. Also, sounds a little different than factory.
No big deal in my opinion. Bored the 6 holes and dropped in some oil. I ran it for about 2 weeks (2 years ago) and then removed it, and set it on the shelf.
Its not much at all, but it needs a slightly bigger hole to get all 6 to line up.
This is not the same type of motor (factory is sealed bearings) this is Brass Bushing (IIRC), and has an oil port. Also, sounds a little different than factory.
No big deal in my opinion. Bored the 6 holes and dropped in some oil. I ran it for about 2 weeks (2 years ago) and then removed it, and set it on the shelf.
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